Developments of Islamic education in the Nordic countries

The Nordic countries, although each of them has their own history and particular features, share a culture that is strongly influenced by Lutheran Protestantism on the one hand and by a strong secularization process on the other. They all profile as Nordic welfare states, where the state has an active role in providing public services including education. This article looks at how and in what forms Islamic education has been developed in the Nordic contexts. Although there are similarities in the Nordic states in terms of how religion and its role in the society are understood, different forms of Islamic religious education have emerged in these countries due to the existing structures and frameworks of religious education in each country. Focusing on Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland, the article will look at Islamic religious education as a subject in public schools and privately run Muslim free schools, in addition to provision of Islamic supplementary education in mosques and religious communities. It will detect some similarities in the Nordic contexts such as homogeneous national imaginaries in which Islam and Muslims are seen as the “others” and the perceived threats of Islamic education to national unity and integration.